


What He Never Said

by TheDeathOfMe



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-21 02:59:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11934900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDeathOfMe/pseuds/TheDeathOfMe
Summary: Of all the things Yagyuu never said, this was what he regretted the most.





	What He Never Said

**Author's Note:**

> Set during the match where Niou teams up with Atobe to play against the top 10 players.

The longer the match went on, the more Yagyuu’s heart hurt. He almost walked away many, many times, but he couldn’t tear his eyes off the court. Niou was giving it _everything_ he had, and Yagyuu couldn’t ignore the efforts of his teammate.

When it got to Niou’s serve and he couldn’t even stand up, Yagyuu closed his eyes tightly. He could feel his muscles tense and he was dimly aware of the seconds passing since the ref’s call. The only thing he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears, numb to everything else. 

He kept his eyes closed the rest of the match, thinking only the worst could come to pass from this. Niou was pushing himself way past his limit, and Yagyuu didn’t want to see the one person he cared about the most in pain. 

“Game and match, second string!” Yagyuu heard the ref’s call. His eyes shot open and Niou was lying on the ground, trying to support his weight with his good elbow, a smirk on his face. 

As the ref listed off the wins of the sets, Yagyuu could feel himself getting emotional. Niou was the only one who could make him feel things this strongly. And he hated himself for it. 

Yagyuu felt like everything was moving so fast when he saw Sanada help Niou over to the sidelines where everyone was waiting for him. All his teammates were beaming but expressed concern. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Niou shook it off as he held up the pin. “It’s just a scratch.” 

Yagyuu felt Niou’s eyes on him and looked over, where the white-haired player was giving him a pure smile. He looked away when he saw Niou’s swollen elbow. 

Sanada helped Niou sit down on the bench, since Niou said that he wanted to watch the next match. Yagyuu could feel the boy’s presence right next to him, but he didn’t want to acknowledge him at the moment. Sure, they’d won the game, but at what cost?! 

“I’m fine, Yagyuu,” he heard Niou say under his breath. “Really.” 

Before the next game started, Yagyuu walked over to Yukimura. “Is it alright if I take Niou-kun to the medical office?” he asked the captain. 

Yukimura looked confused for a moment before nodding. “If you can; he’s adamant about staying here to watch.” 

“Thank you.” 

When Yagyuu went back over to Niou, he slung the other boy’s right arm over his shoulder. 

“Yagyuu, what are you –?”

“I’m taking you to the medic,” Yagyuu stated quietly. 

“I told you, I’m fine!” Niou tried to shake off his teammate but Yagyuu held fast onto his arm. 

“Just let me help you, dammit!” Yagyuu hissed. 

The rest of the walk was silent with Niou stubbornly trying to walk by himself, but Yagyuu wouldn’t let him. 

The nurse on hand started fussing over Niou’s elbow and Niou again stated that he was fine. But when the nurse poked and prodded a certain spot on Niou’s arm, he let out a yelp and drew back immediately. 

“Uh-huh, I thought so,” the nurse shook his head. “We need to get ice on it right now. I’m going to go get some. You _stay put._ ” It’s like he was used to players resisting treatment and running away. 

Niou sighed when the nurse left and glared at Yagyuu. “This is your fault,” he mumbled. 

“My fault?!” Yagyuu demanded. “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been so stubborn!”

“What can I say? That’s one of my charm points,” Niou smirked. 

“No, it’s not!” 

The nurse came back in with an ice pack at that moment, leaving Yagyuu’s accusation heavy in the air between them.

“Now I want you to rest. Yagyuu-kun, would you keep an eye on him for me?” the nurse asked. 

“Of course,” Yagyuu got out. 

They were left alone yet again. 

Niou blinked at Yagyuu. “What’s your deal? You’re usually so cool-headed.” 

Yagyuu bit his lip. He couldn’t tell Niou what he was really feeling. He’d only recently realized what his true feelings were himself. He couldn’t just let his teammate know that he started crushing on him. _“Hey, I know you just pretty much broke your elbow, but you wanna go on a date sometime?”_

Yeah. That’d go over really well. 

Niou sighed. “Y’know, that whole game, I couldn’t stop thinking about how I couldn’t give up. I mean, I told myself that I’d create the perfect illusion of Tezuka Kunimitsu. And he’s the kind of guy who won’t give up no matter what, y’know? So I kept pushing myself harder and harder. I guess…” he shrugged. “I don’t know, I thought it’d be a little more fulfilling…”

Yagyuu was quiet. “You did well. You made it into the U-17 representatives’ top ten. Congratulations.” 

Niou looked over at him. “You’re mad at me, aren’t you?” 

“No.” 

“Keep lying to your doubles partner; see how that works out for you in the end,” Niou shook his head. “We’ve been dancing around telling each other our thoughts ever since we met, Yagyuu. Don’t you think it’s time we just let it all out?” 

His question was met with barely a whisper. “I can’t.” 

Niou started. He hadn’t been expecting an answer. “Why not? Do you not trust me, even after all this time?” 

“No, it’s not…!” Yagyuu took a breath. “It’s not like that,” he replied calmly. 

“Then what’s it like, Yagyuu? As well as I can read you, it’s not like I can read your mind. You have to tell me things or I won’t know.” 

Oh, god, this was turning into a scene from some chick flick. 

Yagyuu turned away from his doubles partner and shook his head. “What I’m thinking is none of your concern.” 

“Well if you’re not gonna tell me what you’re thinking, then I’m going to tell you what I’m thinking. I…” Niou took a shuddering breath, causing Yagyuu to look over at him. His hair was hiding his eyes, but Yagyuu could see his lower lip tremble. “When I couldn’t even stand up on my own, the only thing that crossed my mind was that I wouldn’t be able to play tennis anymore. And… y’know what scared me the most about that possibility?” He licked his lips. “I wouldn’t be able to stand on the court with you and share in the victories.” 

That’s when the dam completely broke and Niou threw the ice bag into the trash. 

“Hey, you need to keep that on your elbow!” Yagyuu protested, moving to grab it out of the bin.

Before he could get any closer Niou’s arms were suddenly around his torso. 

Yagyuu froze while Niou squeezed him tighter. “There’s nothing more important to me than playing with you, Yagyuu,” he sniffled. “Really, I… the thought that I might not be able to play with you anymore was the most terrifying thing that’s ever gone through my mind.” 

Yagyuu couldn’t find it in himself to respond, despite the fact that all he wanted to do was take Niou in his arms and protect him from anything and everything bad. 

He wanted to kick himself when he pushed Niou away and grabbed the ice pack out of the trash before silently shoving it at his partner. He couldn’t bear to see the broken look in Niou’s eyes, so he turned away and muttered, “Congratulations, once again. And keep that on your elbow.” 

He walked out of the nurse’s office and strode back to the tennis courts where the next match was happening. He couldn’t tell you what the result was if his life depended on it; he was just too confused to process anything. 

On one hand, he really liked Niou and didn’t want to hurt him. On the other hand, he didn’t want to see Niou hurt himself and cause some permanent damage. Yagyuu didn’t like either of those options, because both ended with Niou hurting. Maybe it was best to just cut off all ties with Niou…

He stared at his hands, wondering what would’ve happened had he embraced Niou back. He shook his head and then strode up to Yukimura. 

“I’m sorry to spring this on you so suddenly, but… I’m resigning from the club.” He bit his lip for a moment, wondering if he should elaborate. 

Yukimura’s eyes told Yagyuu that he understood exactly why, though at the moment he couldn’t care less what his captain knew. 

Kirihara, however, looked over at him with shock. “Yagyuu-san, why?!” he wondered. 

“It’s his decision, Kirihara,” Yukimura shook his head. “I can’t keep him in the club if he doesn’t want to be here.” 

“B-but we’re in the middle of the U-17 camp! He can’t just… _leave!”_

“I appreciate it, Kirihara, but I can’t stay here,” Yagyuu nodded, pushing up his glasses. He wanted nothing more than to stay with the team, but at the rate things were going, he’d rather die than reveal his feelings for Niou. 

And it’s not like Niou needed him to win, anyway. He’d just proven that by playing with Atobe and winning against two of the best high school players in Japan. 

”It’s not like I’m disappearing from the school, either. I just need to… focus on my duties in the student council.” He hoped no one noticed his hesitation, but judging by the knowing look on some of their faces, he couldn’t pull the wool over their eyes.

Not that he needed to, really. He didn’t care what everyone knew or thought they knew. All he needed to convince himself was that he shouldn’t have anything to do with Niou ever again.

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaaaayyy angst. Always angst bc apparently that's all I can write involving ships. Idk i wrote this like a year ago and thought it's probably time to post it.


End file.
